How much does it cost to implement Feng Shui design?

Reviewed by Adam Graham remodeling expert. Written by Fixr.com.

Feng Shui is a Chinese design philosophy that suggests that the objects in your home and their placement affect your physical health, mental well-being, and success in life. It claims an “energy flow” in your home is created largely by its interior design. Your home’s energy flow interacts with your personal energy flow. Feng Shui’s goal is to achieve a design that frees the energy and helps you live better.

Feng Shui design prices are highly variable, differing considerably based on individual professionals, home sizes, and your design needs. The range for Feng Shui services is $300 to $1,000, while the average homeowner will pay $400 for a four-hour consultation, which could include a walkthrough, evaluation, and verbal recommendations. The lowest cost is $200 for a two-hour consultation, which could include a walkthrough, evaluation, and verbal recommendations. Homeowners who want the whole package, including a redesign, space clearing, staging consultation, and a written report, can expect to pay on the high end $1,500.

Feng Shui Consultant Price

What is Feng Shui?

Feng Shui originally started in China around 3,000 years ago. The translation of Feng Shui is wind-water. The belief is that setting up the home in certain ways develops balance and harmony through energy associated with the furniture, decor, and placement of all of the contents. Feng Shui is achieved by using a compass (Luo-Pan) and an energy map (Bagua). Supporters believe that this ancient art influences health, happiness, and well-being. Five main elements may be noted: wood, water, metal, fire, and earth. Each of these elements possesses a specific power or energy. Additionally, there are three types of Feng Shui: classical/traditional, Black Hat sect, and intuitive/modern. Kua numbers also play a part in good Feng Shui. These numbers are assigned to the people within the house and where they should be situated.

Feng Shui Consultant Fee by Size of Area

Feng Shui specialists do not normally charge per square foot. Professionals charge a certain fee by the room, the size of your entire home, or the hour. Because of the nature of work, Feng Shui should always be done in an area versus a smaller space. The pricing ranges from $200 to $800 and reflects the cost for mapping, report of recommendations, and best direction of occupants. When requesting an entire house Feng Shui, you will receive mapping, report of recommendations, best direction of occupants, recommendation to improve energy, space clearing, and a flying star analysis, which is a part of the Feng Shui evaluation based on the stars and their influence on your home. Each Feng Shui specialist has different methods of accomplishing the balance and may charge more or less for additional services.

Feng Shui Consultant Cost per Hour

While Feng Shui may seem simple, it is a very specific learned practice. A Feng Shui specialist will have attended classes to understand all of the necessary information to achieve your goals. While a professional interior designer can make your home look beautiful, spacious, and well thought out, a Feng Shui specialist will change your home’s atmosphere by using a detailed process. The result will be not only aesthetically pleasing but also contribute to the feel of your home.

Feng Shui specialists charge by the hour for a consultation, whether in-home or by phone. You can expect to pay $75 to $175 an hour. Many experts have package pricing for various aspects of the process. While some Feng Shui companies will do a digital evaluation, it does require that you send photos, a scale floor plan, fill out a questionnaire, and determine your home’s compass direction. A consultant will make recommendations for furnishings and decor or do the shopping for you as long as you are willing to pay for those services.

Feng Shui Color by Location

A Feng Shui designer or consultant advises you which colors would be best for painting your walls and decorating. Color consultations start at $95 to $200.

Color choices are important for achieving a high level of Feng Shui. According to the principles of Feng Shui, each color is associated with one of the five natural elements: fire, earth, metal, water, and wood. The colors you choose and where you place them are believed to influence your home’s energy and personal well being.

For example, if you want to improve your health, it’s recommended that you choose items and colors that fit in the wood element category and place them on the eastern side of your home and its rooms. This means wooden furniture and decor, or even plants, in hues of green or teal.

If you want to bring more energy and passion to your life, use items and colors that fit the fire element category. These include candles and fireplaces and colors like red, pink, and orange. Only place fire colors in your home’s yang rooms.

Feng Shui Bedroom Colors

Bedroom colors can be based on one of three options. A Bagua Map measures the direction of the bedroom. Here are the recommendations for colors based on this tool.

• North: Blue, black, and silver
• South: Red, orange, and pink
• East: Green and brown
• West: Gold, white, gray, and silver
• Southeast: Blue, red, and purple
• Southwest: Red, pink, and white
• Northeast: Blue, green, aqua, and black
• Northwest: White, gray, and black.

The second option is to go with skin-toned colors. These are safe bets regardless of other factors. To achieve soothing bedroom colors, paint the walls any color from a light white to a deep, rich chocolate. It is said that these wall colors make you feel like you are in a warm embrace.

Third, you can go with colors that are centered on your personal birth energy. A professional Feng Shui expert determines this by using the Chinese New Year calendar based on your year of birth. However, it is somewhat complicated as the calendar doesn’t start on January 1st like the American calendar. The birth elements are metal, fire, water, wood, and earth.

Home Office Feng Shui Colors

The most important place in your house to create energy to promote wealth and success is your home office. You can use the same principles listed above for a bedroom for a home office. Some other Feng Shui options are to use white as an accent color. It symbolizes focus and possibilities. Brown invites yang energy. Green indicates new beginnings and growth, while blue instigates health and safety. If you are going all in for Feng Shui, simply picking colors based on their symbols is discouraged as some may not be as nourishing as others or provide an overabundance of something you don’t want.

Feng Shui Bathroom Colors

The typical principles in the bedroom color section apply to your bathroom as well. If you are looking for ways to incorporate Feng Shui with color, stick to light, neutral colors in the earth tones. For example, using wood is an excellent choice in a bathroom as it is nurtured by water. Pick a wood cabinet and mirror frame to complete the look. Avoid black or blue tiles, towels, or paint as these are water symbols. There is enough water energy in a bathroom. Also, keep away from the fire colors.

Feng Shui Living Room Colors

The living room is a great place to add community, health, and love energies. This room should have its orientation tested to determine the best colors, furniture placement, and things to avoid. As with any Feng Shui room, choose no clutter and let in the light. Look for rounded edge furniture and use rugs to soften the area. Using a neutral color for at least three of the walls and a majority of the furniture is a good way to add in pops of color depending on the room’s energy. Leave off extremely bold colors like black or red and add pastels instead. Using blue on a north facing wall is a no-no as it is thought to be cold and unfriendly.

Feng Shui Kitchen Colors

As your kitchen is the place you cook, you want to avoid fire colors such as orange, red, or deep yellows except in a South facing kitchen. As with other rooms, the best colors and shapes depend on the direction the room faces. However, some good choices include using a soft gray with wood accents to provide welcoming energy. Blue should be light and airy and mixed with white or gray and metal materials. Green and brown are options for a kitchen as they are wood elements.

Feng Shui House Orientation

Your home’s orientation is measured in two ways in Classical Feng Shui: facing direction and sitting direction. Using a compass, the direction that the front of your house faces is determined. The backyard, or the opposite of the facing direction, is called the sitting direction.

Feng Shui front door color helps to draw in the right energies for a balanced home, although the front of your home may not necessarily be where your front door is located. Classical Feng Shui dictates that the side of your home that has the most yang energy (or activity) is the front. Through a complicated analysis and calculation, the home orientation is the first step in obtaining Feng Shui. No right or wrong direction exists, but rather colors, elements, furniture placement, body placement, and more will be influenced by the house orientation. Additionally, numbers called Kua are assigned to the people within the home. Your Kua relates to the right home orientation. So, keep in mind, many factors change or enhance the Feng Shui of a home.

West Facing House Feng Shui

A west facing house should make use of the element of metal. This can be achieved through a steel front door or the use of metal element colors such as silver, pewter, bronze, gold, gray, white, brass, or gold. West facing homes are a good match with earth tones such as browns or dark green. Shapes are also related to Feng Shui. Metal and earth shapes are circles, spheres, globes, or squares. Circular metal hangings, square planters, or ottomans are a great way to incorporate this element. Colors to avoid are those associated with water, fire, and wood, such as blue, red, black, purple, orange, and pink.

East Facing House Feng Shui

To reach Feng Shui on a front door facing East, the governing element in East facing Feng Shui is wood. The front door should be painted green, brown, or stained wood. The water element is positive as it nourishes wood, so a blue or black will work. Additionally, the earth component supports wood, so colors such as pale yellow, beige, or sandy brown are good options. Colors to avoid would be the metal and fire colors as both of these destroy wood. Shapes should be tall and vertical such as columns.

South Facing House Feng Shui

South facing homes should use fire colors and shapes to achieve Feng Shui. Using red to paint creates Feng Shui on a front door facing South. Even adding red or orange flowers is a way to change your luck. You can also use a water fountain or feature to balance out the high energy of fire. The wood portion of Feng Shui is usable here as wood feeds fire. Wood furniture or trees near the entrance accomplish this goal. The shape for fire is a triangle so choose a triangle-shaped banner or wall hanging. A South East Facing House Feng Shui is generally considered bad as it creates anger, stress, and tension. It should be fed with fire colors and a good mix of wood. A South West Facing House Feng Shui is best achieved by bringing in earth energy, yellow, peach, beige, or brown colors.

North Facing House Feng Shui

The element related to a North facing house is water, and it influences your career. A dark blue or black door brings positive energy and influences Feng Shui on a front door facing North. Additionally, metal is a good source for a north-facing home, so colors such as gray, white, silver, gold, brass, pewter, and platinum are great choices. Avoid the fire, wood, and earth colors to keep things balanced. The shapes to incorporate are round, oval, or wavy. A North West Facing House Feng Shui produces Chi for the male who is the head of the household. These homes should have a metal component to enhance the energy. The North East Facing House Feng Shui affects financial luck and is ruled by the earth element.

Feng Shui Schools of Thought

The primary focus of all Feng Shui is the examination, analysis, and application of energy optimization within a home or business. Most methods are based on metaphysical science, so don’t confuse it with religion. There are three basic schools of thought in Feng Shui, and within each of these, there may be differing styles.

Classical Feng Shui

This type of Feng Shui is the original Eastern style. It deals with an outward-in philosophy concentrating on the time, environment, and orientation of the property. Within the Classical/Traditional Feng Shui realm, there are two branches:

Form School uses the surrounding areas and the direction that the home faces, astrological factors that influence the earth’s energy, and the negative and positive Chi qualities to maximize or minimize them. Its basis is in the landscape layout. Form School Feng Shui is the oldest documented form of the practice.

Compass School consists of energy that isn’t seen but rather felt. Its main concern is with the Chi energy and how it affects those involved. There are two bedrocks: Yang House and Yin House. Yang is for homes or houses for the living, and Yin is for burial sites.

Black Hat Feng Shui

Pioneered in the ‘70s by Chinese Grand Master Lin Yun Rinpoche, Black Hat Sect Feng Shui is quite commonly used in the U.S. It is a more spiritual Feng Shui that includes chants, rituals, affirmations, and the calling in of positive energy. Black Hat does not use the compass as there is no focus on external surroundings but is based on the Bagua or Energy Map. This map contains eight life aspirations. Although Black Hat doesn’t focus on the facing direction of the home, it uses the Bagua at the entrance to each room in the house.

Traditional Feng Shui specialists often criticize Black Hat as it deviates from the original roots of the art. Also, as it is more spiritually based, many practitioners incorporate their own beliefs and make it more of a religion.

Modern Feng Shui

Modern Feng Shui is often called New Age, Intuitive, or Western. It combines the use of the Bagua Map with crystals, talismans, figurines, object placement, shapes, colors, textures, and intuition. It was developed in the early ‘90s and is considered a “watered down” version of Feng Shui by more classically trained experts. New Age Feng Shui was invented to make the approach easier. The main concern in the community is that much of the history, traditions, and theories of traditional Feng Shui is misplaced in this new style.

House Construction Feng Shui

Achieving Feng Shui from new construction is the best way because you have more options. There are at least three things to consider, but it is best to hire a professional Feng Shui practitioner. You want to determine your Kua number to determine the correct facing of your new home. Second, the size, placement, and color of your front door dictate the amount of Chi let into the home. You want the door to be larger but still proportionate to the size of the house. There shouldn’t be any trees or other objects blocking the front door. Third, look at the shape of the home as square or rectangle homes are better for Chi flow than a more oddly shaped home.

Outdoor Feng Shui

Backyard feng shui design is vital for a harmonized area to relax and enjoy the outdoors. Using wood and metal furniture is an excellent way to incorporate these energies. Water features in the garden are a way to invite wealth into your space. Colors should harmonize with plants, trees, and flowers. Outdoor chimes are believed to have healing powers and reduce stress. Creating Feng Shui on the front porch is essential as it is the place that you unwind and greet your guests. Add color through the use of flowers in red, yellow, and purple to draw good fortune to your home.

Feng Shui Elements

As we stated earlier, five elements of nature are the basis of Feng Shui: earth, fire, metal, water, and wood. These elements influence energy as follows: Earth is a symbol of stability and order. Fire influences boldness, leadership, and passion. Metal helps with clarity and focus. Water is associated with prosperity, spirituality, and emotions. Wood symbolizes new life, growth, and creativity.

Other factors that contribute to achieving Feng Shui are the Qi or Chi energy, a positive energy where more is better. Tools such as a compass or Bagua Map are used to find the correct orientation of the home, furniture, and more. The compass determines the orientation of the home to understand how to draw the energies or ward off those you don’t want. The Bagua or Energy map features the eight life aspirations. These aspirations are grouped as recognition and fame, marriage and relationships, descendants and children, mentors and networking, career and life purpose, education and knowledge, family and health, wealth and prosperity. Kua numbers refer to the individuals living within the home and can determine who should sleep where, the direction of the bed in each room, and colors.

One thing to keep in mind is that with the various nuances in Feng Shui beliefs and methods, not all of these tools will be used. Your Feng Shui advisor will know the right way to handle your particular case.

Feng Shui Benefits

Having Feng Shui design in your home has practical benefits: its principles are conducive to building clutter-free, unobstructed layouts and making your home feel like a more peaceful place. Working with a Feng Shui advisor can help you achieve an attractive design that makes your interior feel more welcoming and accommodating for your usual household activities. Hiring a professional can prevent you from making Feng Shui design mistakes.

Disadvantages include some impractical suggestions that may be made by the expert, such as full home remodels. Expert Feng Shui services can be relatively expensive. It can be hard to determine who is a real Feng Shui expert and who is simply an interior designer that dabbles in Feng Shui. Always ask a Feng Shui advisor about their training and what discipline (“school”) they belong to before hiring. The International Feng Shui Guild provides a list of trusted Feng Shui training schools, including the International Feng Shui School, the Academy of Exquisite Living, and the East Coast Institute of Feng Shui.

Real Estate Feng Shui

Feng shui home staging is a way to declutter and ready your home for sale. In general, staging helps make the house look showroom ready without having a “lived in” look. Feng Shui takes staging a step further--drawing a buyer based on the energy the home emits. The goal is to make the home feel warm, welcoming, and peaceful. There are staging companies that specifically offer Feng Shui, and their specialists also do staging.

Vastu Shastra vs Feng Shui

The practices of Vastu Shastra and Feng Shui have many similarities. Vastu Shastra originated in India, while Feng Shui was introduced by the Chinese. Both make use of drawing energy, home orientation, placement, and harmony between nature and the individual occupants of the home. The differences between the two have to do with the best way to achieve the positive energy needed. Vastu Shastra looks at home orientation differently and sees color use conversely from Feng Shui. They both agree that the front and the center of the house is the most important place for energy gathering. A one-time Vastu Shastra consultation can cost between $150 and $400, while a one-time Feng Shui consultation costs $200 to $400.

Additional Considerations and Costs

• A permit isn’t required for Feng Shui consultation and reporting. You may need a permit if any building or renovations are done.
• DIY is not recommended as the practice of Feng Shui is detailed and varies according to the needs of each home and its occupants.
• Also, ask for references. It’s recommended that you get in touch with a consultant or designer’s past clients before hiring. Ask them if they are satisfied with the results, if they’d use the same Feng Shui advisor again in the future, and if the consultant conducted themselves professionally.
• You needn’t buy anything new to adopt some Feng Shui design principles in your home. However, depending on the layout of your space, you may be advised to purchase items like mirrors, curtains, or differently shaped furniture to maximize the Feng Shui.
• Decide beforehand what exactly you are looking for as there are several schools of thought in Feng Shui. One form may speak to you more than another. Discuss your needs with the consultants you choose or be open to whatever they offer.